A Snowy Day

The snow started falling mid afternoon yesterday and still hasn't stopped.  The weather and news report were full of warnings, telling us it could be the biggest winter storm we've seen in the past five years.  Luckily, I was able to work from home today, as the snow has been falling quite heavily at times and blowing winds have meant visibility has been greatly reduced due to the amount of snow swirling around as well.  Only four of my co-workers actually made it in to the office of the 65 or so that work there and even they went home midday.

You can see how much snow we had by noon today when you look at the base of these trees:

The above two photos have been automatically lighted by my Picasa editing software.  Here's the unaltered view or how it really looked out my window all day today - a very grayish white:

I thought I might brave a walk across the street to the plaza, perhaps pick up a few groceries.  Then I read the temperature was close to minus 20 C with the windchill and changed my mind!  This snowplow has spent most of the day in the plaza parking lot, starting at 4 this morning.    Unfortunately, I know when it's there because it makes a beeping noise as it moves around that is quite annoying!

The snow is even starting to pile up on my window ledge:

I love this closeup of the crystals at the top and the melting snow lower down:

The storm is finally starting to taper off a bit as evening falls but they're advising people to stay off the roads tonight as well if possible,  to give the plows a chance to clear the snow and probably to give emergency workers a break - there have been a record number of collisions and stranded cars around the city today.  I'm happy to stay put, safe and warm at home!